Third Time's A Charm
by DemiandSelenaFan
Summary: Sonny had only been in love three times in her life. OneShot. For Mona and Abbie.


**I'm not sure whether to be sad or happy about this. Today is my one year fanficiton anniversary, and in celebration, I wrote this story. But, I know I'm not ever going to write for Sonny With A Chance again. This is definitely the end. Which is kind of weird to think about. **

**I hope you enjoy this fic, everyone who is decent enough to click into it, even though I haven't written the summary yet, but I know it'll suck. I'm not sure if I even like it, or if I should've posted it at all, but I did. So here it is. **

**My last SWAC fic, ever. **

**Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing. **

**Dedication: I know neither of you read SWAC fanfiction anymore. I know that you're both over Channy, and moved on, but I wanted to thank you, in the only way I could think of, for being here for me through some really tough times. So, Mona and Abbie, this is for you. :) I love you both, so much. Thank you for everything. **

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_**Third Time's A Charm**_

_By DemiandSelenaFan_

i.

Sonny has only been in love three times in her whole life.

ii.

She was fourteen years old when she first fell in love. He was that guy in her math class who asked could he borrow her pen once, and smiled at her like she was the only girl in the world. She wasn't even sure if he knew her name, but for that one second, she felt like she was on a high.

He was on the basketball team, and the football team, and he was only a _freshman _just like her and things like that shouldn't have mattered to her but for some reason they did. He was popular and smart, and he didn't need her to tutor him like some of the other boys, and it was horribly clichéd that she, the quiet friendly girl in the back row, should choose him, but she did, because she always thought clichés were kind of cute anyway.

Then one day, he introduced himself to her, as if she didn't already know exactly who he was. He stood closer to her than he ever had, and set her heart racing, and made her feel like she'd never ever felt before.

That sick to the stomach, elated euphoria, that made her, in that paradoxical way, want to be even closer to him, and never go anywhere near him again. It was the first time she'd ever noticed the opposite sex, but all of a sudden it consumed her life, and her every thought, and she launched into crushing on him with as much enthusiasm as she did everything. She could barely concentrate on anything else, and anything and everything he said or did, she analysed to the point of exhaustion and ran the memory over and over in her mind.

Lucy had to tell her repeatedly that he was interested, that he liked her too, but Sonny couldn't believe her, until one day, he sauntered up to her, and leant casually against the locker beside hers, giving her this half grin that he seemed to save just for her.

Sonny could never really remember what exactly he said to her next, but just like that, she had her first boyfriend. And for a while she was really happy and she couldn't be blamed for falling for the boy who made her feel like that.

They spent all their time together, studied together, ate lunch together, hung out together. Their friends laughed at them and said what they would never last, but Sonny, she didn't believe them. In her eyes they were forever.

And for a while her life was absolutely _perfect. _

iii.

She was almost fifteen when her dad left.

One night, just before the start of summer vacation, he came into her bedroom when he thought she was asleep. It was far too late for her to be awake, but she had been kept up by constant texts from Lucy and her boyfriend.

It was long after the house had gone quiet, and she could almost hear the buzz of the street lamps outside, when the sudden sound of her father's footsteps shocked her into silence, and she stuffed her cell phone under her pillow, and carefully steadied her breathing.

She listened as her father cautiously paced his way to her bed. She felt the mattress shift with his weight, and the springs creaked as he lowered himself down beside her. She was never too sure how long he sat with her in silence, but after what seemed like an age, she felt him lean slowly down, and press one soft kiss to her forehead, lingering just a little too long.

"I'm sorry, Ally."

He'd whispered it, and his tone had scared her just enough that she'd almost replied, but she kept still, and her inhaling and exhaling rhythmic. After another little while, she heard him rise, and slowly tiptoe from her room, shutting the door gently behind him.

Moments after, the front door opened and closed distantly from downstairs, and the sound of the car engine starting up outside reached her ears.

In the morning, after a full night awake, she snuck in to her parents' bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, and when she peered inside she could see that the closet was wide open, and the drawers of the dresser were emptied. She found her mom in bed, clutching a crumpled piece of paper in her left hand, crying softly into a pillow, murmuring something incomprehensive.

But Sonny never shed a tear, never told anyone what happened, not even when her boyfriend broke it off with her that day in school.

That was the day she learned she could only really rely on herself.

iv.

She was fifteen years of age when she fell in love the second time.

And she knew it was wrong, that she shouldn't, but this time, she couldn't help but think it was different. He wasn't her father, or her first boyfriend, _he_ was special. She knew him only from the library in school, the boy who sat at the same table as her while he studied, at the back, in the history section where nobody disturbed them.

She had become more and more of a recluse, and was really only left with Lucy as a friend, as she pushed everyone else away. This boy, the one hidden behind a stack of school books was the same as her. A junior, a year older than she, he had been voted most likely to go to Harvard by his class. He was also voted most likely to end up living with 27 cats. He never seemed to talk, and he had no friends to speak of, but he by no means seemed unhappy with this situation, or particularly bothered by his isolation.

It was the only time in her life that she ever built a relationship silently. Without ever really acknowledging it, they somehow became study partners, and when he'd notice that she was struggling with something, normally geometry, he'd bring in his notes from his sophomore year, and casually, discreetly, pass them across the the table for her to use.

He was completely the opposite of her former boyfriend, but sometimes she thought that was part of his attraction. He wasn't popular, and she never heard him laugh, and she'd hardly even spoken to the guy, but he seemed to have a knack for reading people, and she needed that more than anything. Somewhere along the way she found herself falling in love with him.

He found her on the anniversary of her dad leaving, at their usual table, but the desk in front of her was clear. When she sat in the same place for a whole hour, just staring at her hands, he eventually looked up from his English notes, and broke their unwritten contract.

"You want to go somewhere?"

That afternoon they spent at the cinema, and in the park, and when he dropped her home, she kissed him, quickly and swiftly, just a peck on the lips. She didn't even wait around to see his reaction.

That night lying in bed she thought maybe, just _maybe, _the day would cease to be the anniversary of her dad leaving, and be the beginning of something much better.

The next day, he didn't turn up at their table.

She never saw him again.

v.

She was delighted when she got the call from Marshall about coming to L.A to be on So Random! She'd merely been doing the web show for fun, just to get her mind off boys and her dad, and the fact that she was pretty sure her mom was running out of money, and that it didn't look like she was about to start working anytime soon. Instead, she got a second chance out of it, a way to get them both a fresh start, in a whole new city, a whole new state, where they had no memories of disappointments or heartbreak.

Sonny suddenly felt like her old self. She was happy again, lively again, and for the first time in a long while, she was excited about life. So Tawni Hart, her idol, didn't like her very, so Nico and Grady were already best friends, and Zora was a little too off for her liking. She was better in L.A than she ever was back in Wisconsin. More importantly, her mom had even started going out to interviews. She wasn't going to let anyone ruin that for her.

Not even Chad Dylan Cooper.

No one would believe her, if she ever said it aloud, but she never really fancied him at the beginning. She'd been a little star struck maybe, but that was to be expected. That was allowed. She had, however, by this time, experienced enough of boys to know not to get in too deep too quickly, and in a matter of days, he was just another boy who worked on her lot.

Albeit, an annoyingly conceited boy, but just some TV star all the same.

She still had no friends, and without her study partner from back home she feared she might begin to fail again, but still she continued on. There was no grey cloud to her silver lining, at least not as far as she was concerned.

Everything was great up until something caused her to stumble.

She discovered Chad _cared. _

It had been so long since she'd had someone be concerned about her, instead of the other way around, that it felt almost odd. Not that anyone could really tell from the outside.

'Chad and Sonny Feud'

That's what all the tabloid's read. Yet, she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he was looking out for her. The occasional fan letter that was very clearly from him, when he got mad about the kiss cam incident or when he danced with her at the prom he'd said was lame.

Soon, she had to admit that he was an okay guy. Even though she knew that was how it always began.

vi.

For nearly a whole year they were enemies, who were friends if they were honest with themselves. They lived up to tradition, pretended to despise one another, and acted like they smelled something bad when either of them walked into the room.

But while he was the greatest actor of his generation, and she was pretty talented too, (though he'd never admit that), neither one can hide a secret like that for too long. Soon enough, though she'd never confess it, she was falling for him. Soon enough, he set her heart racing again, and she was lost in his eyes.

She was good at make believe though, she'd been doing it since her dad left, and for a while, he was just a crush who worked at the same place, and made her heart melt a little bit.

Then her mom introduced her to Mackenzie Falls. And for a moment she was just glad that she and her mother had something in common again, before the realisation set in, and she knew that it wasn't going to help anyone.

In a matter of episodes, she couldn't deny what she felt anymore. She couldn't get him out of her head. She knew he was not Mackenzie, knew he wasn't perfect, or romantic, or sweet, but she couldn't help it. She wanted Mackenzie with Chloe, and she and _Chad _together, and somehow she couldn't seem to get the image out her mind's eye. She didn't think it was ever going to just disappear.

She couldn't tell Tawni, even though they became better friends, or any of her cast, because they'd have immediately alienated her, and she couldn't tell Lucy, because they'd grown apart in those last couple of months, and she feared that her friend would go to the paparazzi, and spill everything, before she had the chance to straighten it all out in her own mind first.

So, she did what she thought was best. She went to see a professional.

Then somehow, by some mad twist of fate, and thanks to her cryptic speech, she ended up agreeing to go on a date with Chad Dylan Cooper. Even if it did go against everyone's wishes, and her own better judgement.

Yet something she could see in his eyes, as he stared down at her, waiting for her answer, made her say yes.

And somehow, she didn't even regret it.

Things managed to get jumbled up, and she copped out, cancelled it all because of her cast. He managed to sweet talk her back around, got her to go on a private date, one she, by a mad stroke of luck, managed to convinced her friends was a dinner for his charity tennis tournament.

And even though it went horribly, and every other boy in the world would have just run away with their tail between their legs, he fought for her, like no other boy, not her dad or otherwise had ever done before.

So, despite the fact that everyone she worked with had forbidden their relationship, and called her traitor, and that he was so nervous around her he managed to vomit all down her nicest dress, she still found herself at dinner with him again, being dazzled by his stunning smile.

She was way deep in love, and she didn't even really mind.

vii.

No one had ever been so real with her. He told her everything, all his secrets, all his fears. He was funnier than she ever anticipated, and he made her forget everything, from her past boyfriends, to all her screw ups, and even her dad. She was seventeen, and she was in love with a guy who didn't seem the type to break her heart after all. At least not underneath all the bravado.

She couldn't have been in a better place.

Yet, they were most definitely not perfect. They lived in Hollywood, for Christ's sake. His fans hated her, and the tabloids said he was going to break her heart. They said she was going to get hurt again.

But she didn't believe them, and she meant more to him than all the fans combined. They were happy together, and while there were bumps in the road, they got through them. They got through a lot in their first couple of months.

He waited for her, though, and that was what made her love him the most. She knew he wanted to kiss her, knew he had probably done a whole lot _more _with other girls, things she didn't even want to think about. Never did he pressure her, even with the media glare, he never even asked for a kiss.

And when they did, it was magical, everything she could ever have asked for in a first kiss. It blew every other one she'd ever had out of the water, because it was quick, and chaste, and it was unexpected, and somehow it was like glue, and it held everything she thought she was about to lose in place.

Then they were okay again for a while, and they made her cast sick, and caused Tawni to pull disgusted faces whenever they were together, but somehow she figured the Randoms didn't really mind all that much. Because as much as they disliked Chad, they all cared about Sonny, and she was exultant with him, so they were okay to put up with him too.

But the sun don't always shine for her, despite her name. And he turned out to be less than perfect. She knew it all along, but that, what he did to her, stabbed her through her heart. He was conceited and he was a jerk, and he wouldn't let her have her moment in the spotlight. He was _just _like her first boyfriend, and he was just like her dad. He let her down. And with him, it definitely hurt so much more.

She should've known, she did know, and she could've stopped herself from falling too far too fast, and getting in so steep that she couldn't even breath without him.

She learnt her lesson though, and even when he tried to win her back, she fought her heart with her head, with logic and reason, something she wasn't really known for. She knew that the first time he broke her heart it wasn't her fault. But if she let him do it again, she'd be the only one to blame.

So, she sang, and she cried to a girl she barely knew, but somehow she found the strength to get on with life.

And suddenly, he was just some guy who worked on her set all over again.

That she could cope with.

viii.

He moved on, much more quickly than she did. That was to be expected of course. He worked with beautiful girls every day. It was miracle that he hadn't ever cheated on her, considering. She was gorgeous though, this new girl, an actress, and a singer, who shined.

Chloe would make him a much better girlfriend than she ever could.

That didn't mean it didn't upset her though, seeing them together, seeing them happy. She still wished they were an item, still wanted things to be the same again, but she'd accepted they couldn't ever go back, so she cried in solitude, and never let anyone know she regretted it.

It was then that she figured, she couldn't even rely on herself to shield her from pain. She'd grown up much more quickly than she should've had to, what with her dad, and her mom and she knew there was a responsibility that came with being an adult. She knew it was right that she broke up with him, but she couldn't help but think that, had her dad not left, she wouldn't have had to break her own heart.

Things didn't really go very well for her from then on. Her sketches were nearly all a bust, and she knew the show was coming up to its last season, and yet, she couldn't find it in herself to go looking for another job, even though she was dubbed the next big thing. She and Tawni fought over the most ridiculous things, and she knew she was mostly in the wrong. Nico and Grady had trouble even finding something to say to her, and Zora... well the younger girl just looked at her with an expression that someway managed to break her apart. Her mom just stared at her like she didn't even recognize her anymore, and she knew it was not okay to change because of a boy, at least that was what Mel told her, but she still found herself spending more and more time in her room, alone.

She was cursing humanity, convinced that things were never going to work out for her, that she would be left unhappy for the rest of her life, until something happened and she finally saw that she was not alone.

One night, when it was coming up to her nineteenth birthday, Tawni, Mel and Zora knocked on her bedroom door, and demanded she allow them to come inside. They had make up and pizza and ice cream, and they looked her straight in the eye and told her to cry, told her to get mad, really mad, throw something if she had to.

It was then that she realised she couldn't depend on her dad, or boyfriends, or even her mom, but she could guarantee that her friends were going to be there for her, whether she wanted them around or not. They were stubborn and annoying, and could read her mind, but they made things a lot easier to deal with, and they allowed her to be weak again.

They let her be a little girl, the teenager she never really got to be.

And slowly, but surely, she got over him, and forgot about him, and she was just Sonny again.

For the first time in a while, being Sonny didn't seem all that bad.

ix.

Then they broke up, when she was nineteen and a half.

Chloe and Chad were supposed to be forever, their names were alliteration, goddamn it. Yet, so were Chad and Sonny, so it was not much of a surprise to her. Chloe lasted longer than she did, and that was something in itself. She knew how the other girl must have felt, she'd experienced it first hand, and she sympathised for her, but she knew Chloe would get back on her feet.

Chad was special, but he was not one of a kind. At least not for girls like Chloe.

What she didn't foresee, however, was Chad calling to her apartment (the one she now lived in alone, after her mom moved back to Wisconsin), in the middle of a dark night, almost three weeks later, drenched after one of California's rare thunderstorms.

His hair was plastered to his forehead, and she was pretty sure she was not seeing the tears that were mixed in with the rain, but he looked desperate, and sad, and she questioned why he came to her, but she still let him in. He asked where her mom was, and she told him, and for a moment they just stood and stared at each other, in the middle of her silent living room. Black haired, brown eyed, against the blonde and blue.

It was in that moment that they realised how little they knew each other after all that time, how much they'd missed in the year and three months that passed. They didn't know each other anymore. They were complete strangers, who were once kids in love. They were older now, different people, but they were still Sonny and Chad, and when they looked into each other's eyes, they were just seventeen and eighteen again, searching for people who understood them, hiding their feelings behind cold shoulders and glares.

One second, she was looking at him, wide eyed, like a child again, with wonderment and awe, and the next, she was in his arms, sobbing, digging her face into his neck, just to smell him again. And while their lives had changed, evolved, and become those of older people, independent people, his arms were still the same, and they still made her feel safe, and wanted, and whole.

For the first time, they admitted something they were both scared of before.

_They missed one another. _

They stayed up long into the early hours, sat crossed legged on her bed, facing one another, sharing popcorn and memories. It was like they finally acknowledged that they cared about each other deeply, and that feelings like that can't just disappear. He told her that he and Chloe were never the same, never so _right _together, and maybe that was why they worked for so long. She wasn't hot headed, or loud, or opinionated like Sonny was, and she let him get away with things Sonny would've murdered him for.

That worked for him, for a while, he told her, but as time passed, he had to admit there was no passion, no spark, and it wasn't fair to keep leading her on. If Sonny taught him anything, it was that it wasn't okay to hurt someone's feelings when you could do something about it.

When he approached her about ending it, Chloe knew what he was going to say before he said it. In the end, it was mutual, they both agreed. They just were never meant to be.

He stilled cried though. The relationship tore him to pieces. Not because he would miss being with Chloe, or miss having someone to hold. No, he told her, he cried because he had to own up to what he'd been eluding for a year.

While he could be happy with someone else, no girl was ever going to compare to Sonny.

He was never going to love another girl like he had loved Sonny. Like he still did.

She didn't answer him, when he poured his heart out to her, but that was alright too. And at four forty three in the morning, they fell asleep together on her bed, dried tear tracks on her cheeks, and his arm wrapped around her shoulder, his chest a pillow for her head.

In the morning, she made him pancakes, and he said that they were the best he'd ever had, and he may have been lying, but she didn't care, because it made her smile, and she flicked flour at him and he dumped the whole bag over her head.

And she was standing there in her kitchen, wearing the clothes from yesterday, covered in white powder, resembling like a snowman.

And as she cleared the flour from her eyes, and looked up at him from under eyelashes dyed white, he wiped the soot from her lips, and kissed her, so deeply it made her weak at the knees. He still kissed like he used to, like she was the most beautiful girl in the entire world, and made her feel so special she could barely breathe. It was flawless, and new, and old, and familiar all at once. It was what she'd been missing for over a year, and she swore, right there in the kitchen that she'd never let him go again.

"There are no second chances this time," she repeated her words, from so long ago, whispered them against his lips, and she could feel his arms tighten around her, like he was never going to let her go.

"No more second chances," he agreed, kissing her gently on each cheek, "I'm not going to screw this up again. One chance is _all _I need."

They'd never be perfect, because they were both blemished in their own right, but they were meant for each other, either way.

x.

Sonny has only been in love three times in her whole life.

But as Chad spins her around on the dance floor, holding her close to him, for the first time as husband and wife, she knows that's enough.

And she's damn sure certain that third time's a charm.

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**So, there you go. I hope you liked it, and I'd really appreciate feedback. **

**And thank you to everyone who's ever supported me, favourited me, or left me a review. It really meant more than you can imagine. **

**So, now, I say goodbye.**

**DemiandSelenaFan x**


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